Based on the true story of one of the greatest pro football players and teams of all-time, the legendary 1925 Pottsville Maroons; the heroic tale of a player, a team, and a small town with a dream.
The Pottsville Maroons takes place in the early days of the National Football League, the most popular sport in America. The true story of a coal miner who helped the NFL topple college football only to see his small-town team’s national championship forfeited – the only time in NFL history.
The story the History Channel called the greatest scandal in the 100-year history of the N.F.L. (08/24/21)
The story the NY Times recently highlighted as the potential cause for “the longest championship drought in major American sports.” (01/17/22)
The Pottsville Maroons were the first team to hire players full-time, requiring them to practice every day, unheard of at the time. And were one of the first teams to perfect and utilize “the forward” (screen pass), running it 17 times in a row; in addition, to the brutal running plays of the day.
The Pottsville Maroons still holds the NFL record for the most shutouts in a season, 11.
All 100% TRUE, but that’s just the backdrop for this film. At the center of the movie is an even greater, more amazing true life story. The story of Tony Latone.
Tony Latone
Tony Latone was 11yrs. old when his father passed out drunk and froze to death on a street in Chicago. Latone lied about his age and said he was fourteen so he could takeover his Dad’s job working in the coal mines to support his mother and five sisters.
Latone left the mines, at great personal and financial peril, to play professional football for his small-town team in their first season with the recently formed National Football League. At the time the NFL was viewed as “a joke” – a poor substitute for college football.
The greatest player of the early era, Red Grange, called Tony Latone, “The most football player I’ve ever seen.”
Unlike Grange, Latone is not in the NFL Hall of Fame despite having rushed for more yards (2,648) and scored more touchdowns (26) than Grange. . . in 30 less games.
This is HIS story.
The screenplay of The Pottsville Maroons is a wholly original copy written work; it is not based on any of the numerous articles and/or books published on the subject. WGA registration #1037816; dated January 07, 2005.
The Pottsville Maroons was originally developed and optioned by acclaimed director Penny Marshall, who considered it to be a male version of her film, “A League of Their Own.” It was set to be greenlit in 2008 by Peter Cramer at Universal Pictures when it was bumped by a similar film by George Clooney. Since Penny’s passing in 2018 the rights have reverted back to myself. A new draft has been written with NFL Hall of Fame Sportswriter, Ray Didinger, as the story consultant. Didinger also co-authored the book, “The Ultimate Book of Sports Movies: Featuring the 100 Greatest Sports Films of All Time.”